Vol. 79/No. 25 July 20, 2015
The opening of embassies “completes the first stage of what will be a long and complex process towards the normalization of bilateral relations,” said a statement issued by the Cuban government July 1.
This marks another victory for revolutionary Cuba in the process announced last December of moving toward normalization of relations between Washington and Havana, registering the failure of the U.S. rulers to overturn Cuba’s socialist revolution despite more than five decades of economic and political warfare.
As long as Washington’s “economic, commercial and financial blockade continues to be fully implemented” against the Cuban people, and until “the territory illegally occupied by the Guantánamo Naval Base” is returned, there can’t be normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba, the Cuban government stressed. (The full text of the statement appears below.)
Washington has maintained a naval base at Guantánamo Bay since the Spanish-American War, in which the U.S. rulers occupied Cuba just as Cuban fighters were on the verge of winning independence from Spanish colonial rule. A U.S.-imposed treaty dating to 1903 gave Washington a “perpetual lease” on this part of Cuban territory. Since 2002, the base has been used to imprison indefinitely hundreds of men Washington claimed were “enemy combatants” in the so-called war on terror.
Since the 1959 revolution, the Cuban government has insisted that the U.S. occupation of Guantánamo and violation of Cuban sovereignty must end.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter responded July 1, saying there is “no anticipation and no plan” to give up the base.
Cuba defends sovereignty, principles
Obama pressed to rapidly open embassies following the Dec. 17 announcement that Washington and Havana would seek to resume diplomatic relations. While he admitted that Washington’s harsh embargo and efforts to isolate Cuba had failed, he made clear the U.S. rulers’ goal of overturning Cuba’s socialist revolution and restoring capitalist relations there hadn’t changed. But he recognized Washington’s growing isolation in Latin America meant the imperialists’ tactics had to change. There is broad bipartisan support for this course within the U.S. ruling class.The Cuban leadership’s response has been to take the time to work through each issue, defending Cuban sovereignty and principles at every stage. Cuban officials repeatedly explained the onus is on Washington to change. Washington broke diplomatic relations and has carried out decades of attacks against the Cuban Revolution. Cuba has no bases on U.S. soil, wages no embargo against the U.S. economy.
They insisted that embassies couldn’t be re-established as long as Cuba remained on Washington’s self-proclaimed list of “state sponsors of terrorism,” nor while Cuba’s diplomatic mission was denied access to banking services under the embargo. Washington has now met both of these conditions.
Throughout the talks, the Cuban government has continually reiterated its defense of Venezuela’s sovereignty, condemning U.S. threats and sanctions against that country, and spoken in support of other anti-imperialist struggles, such as the fight for Puerto Rican independence.
In his July 1 announcement of the agreement to reopen embassies, Obama said he has “called on Congress to take steps to lift the embargo that prevents Americans from traveling or doing business in Cuba.” Formal diplomatic relations will allow Washington to “substantially increase our contacts with the Cuban people,” he said. “We’ll have more personnel at our embassy. And our diplomats will have the ability to engage more broadly across the island.”
Castro’s July 1 letter to Obama stated that Cuba is guided by international law requiring, among other things, respect of “sovereign equality, the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, non-interference in matters which are within the domestic jurisdiction of any State, the development of friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and cooperation in solving international problems.”
The letters from both Castro and Obama stated a commitment to abide by Vienna conventions on diplomatic and consular relations that date to the 1960s. “I am pleased to confirm the understanding of the United States that these agreements will apply to diplomatic and consular relations between our two countries,” Obama wrote.
Cuba has insisted Washington break from its long history of using diplomatic personnel to interfere in the internal affairs of Cuba and many other nations, as well as financing covert operations aimed at destabilizing the Cuban government and fomenting “dissident” groups within the country.
Related articles:
Relations require ‘respect for independence and sovereignty’
Cuban 5 in South Africa: ‘We are soldiers of revolution’
Cuba helps push back Washington’s attacks on Venezuela
Build on revolutionary Cuba’s victory
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